Accountability time for election snafus

Diana Walsh, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, November 14, 1995

1995-11-14 04:00:00 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The public inquisition of the Registrar of Voters Office is about to begin.

In the wake of several snafus surrounding last week's election, city officials are calling for two hearings, an audit and the formation of a special task force to review the procedures used by the registrar in conducting the election.

On Monday, Chief Administrative Officer Bill Lee, who oversees the registrar, called for the audit and an immediate review of the election results - both of which will be conducted by a task force he will appoint and chair. The task force will hold a public hearing, Lee said.

Board of Supervisors President Kevin Shelley said the board would hold its own hearing on the election problems. And Supervisor Willie Kennedy requested that a letter be sent to Registrar Germaine Wong asking her to explain what had gone wrong and why.

The registrar's office still has some 5,000 absentee ballots to count from last week's election. The deadline for registering to vote in the Dec. 12 runoff ends at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Wong's troubles began in the weeks preceding the election when her office discovered that a privately hired printer had delivered 30,000 absentee ballot handbooks with the wrong covers attached, causing voters in some areas of the city to vote for a candidate other than their choice.

The headache was exacerbated election night when computer breakdowns, caused by an electrician switching on an air conditioner in the registrar's building, delayed voting tallies for several hours.

Wong came under immediate attack by Supervisor Angela Alioto, who called for Wong's firing just hours after the polls closed. An incensed Mayor Jordan asked the secretary of state to send in an "emergency response team" to oversee the Dec. 12 runoff election.

But nearly a week later, tempers have cooled considerably, and Wong supporters are standing up to defend her record.

"I hope we don't have any move by anybody to replace her because she really is a good registrar," Supervisor Sue Bierman told her colleagues at the board's regular Monday meeting.

Supervisor Carole Migden said that the difficulties might have more to do with repeated cuts to the registrar's budget and that Wong's performance had been exemplary in the seven years she had held the position.

"I don't think we should victimize or tar and feather Germaine Wong for working hard," Migden said. "Maybe some changes have to be made, and I'm pleased we have decided to look into it. But I, for one, stand in firm defense of a hard-working department."

Alioto softens her stand &lt;

Even Alioto has softened her hard-line stand against Wong, saying that after talking with her Monday she would wait to see the results of the board's investigation before deciding what to do.

"I'm saying we have to have an investigation," said Alioto. "As a candidate, you've got to get it right when it comes to counting votes."

The Jordan campaign, which was relying heavily on a vote-by-mail effort and believes they were cheated out of thousands of votes by absentee voters who did not return any ballots at all, said they welcomed the multiple investigations.

"San Franciscans are entitled to total confidence in the absentee ballot process," said Sean Clegg, press secretary for the Jordan campaign. "I think the mayor would be supportive of any move to restore public confidence . . . but we will continue to seek state oversight of the Dec. 12 election."

State experts to investigate &lt;

Lee said his task force would be made up of election experts from the secretary of state's office, local registrar offices and individuals from The City's Citizen's Advisory Committee on Elections. The group will look not only at the snafus that marred the general election but also at how future elections could be improved.

"I think it is time for us to look at the whole election process," Lee said.

Lee, whose office oversees the registrar's office under The City's charter, said he didn't think his role as chair of the task force would taint its investigation.

"I'm new in the job . . . I don't have a past with this department," said Lee, who was appointed to his position in March. "There will be plenty of checks and balances."

The woman in the center of the storm also welcomed a closer look at her operations.

"It's always good to have as many people as possible to take a look at something and come up with recommendations," said Wong.

Wong said she didn't expect the recent problems to resurface in the runoff or future elections.

"These kinds of mistakes happen in elections," she said. "It's not going to make anybody feel better, but we try to avoid these kinds of mistakes. We'll try even harder now." &lt;

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